


Like a Reasonably Functional Human Being

by TechnologicalNoiz



Series: The Adventures of Two Emotionally Compromised Imbeciles [3]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Oh also, but it's not really fluff either?, not really sure what this is, so this is definitely not angst, tw: mild panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 22:37:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17927690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TechnologicalNoiz/pseuds/TechnologicalNoiz
Summary: After NOT talking about what happened at the dog park, Chen and Cy run into the rest of the team.





	Like a Reasonably Functional Human Being

_Oh no. Something is wrong._  You sense it before you open the door. “Chen, I don't think we should…” Your warning is too late, his hand is already turning the handle, pushing the door open.

He looks back over his shoulder at you. “What was that?”

You are no longer paying attention to him. Your eyes are trained on the room. Your mind preparing for ambush as you both walk to your doom.  The two of you still haven't talked about what happened at the dog park. Now it looks like you will be forced to… In front of others too… This situation couldn’t possibly get worse.

Or so you thought before you actually entered the room. The grins on Ortega’s and Lady Argent's faces are flat out predatory. There is a viciousness to her thoughts that is entirely different to what you are used to from fighting her. Even Heralds mind is sharper than usual, if a little disappointed and nervous. Always nervous when you are around.

Chen is still looking at you, distantly you can feel his concern. “Cyrus?” He puts a hand on your shoulder. He still doesn’t know about the situation you have landed yourselves in. They saw. Argent lets that thought slip, knowing that you will catch it. You glance at her, she is not looking at you, pretending to inspect her nails. Your hands go cold, the blood drains from your face. You make eye contact with Ortega, their grin widens. You are the rat that unassumingly wandered into the cats claws. Everyone says it’s either fight or flight. They always forget the third option. You freeze. This is bad, you want to run but your body won’t obey your commands.

“Cyrus.” Chen’s tone is urgent this time as he turns to face you. Your eyes snap over to meet his, wide with panic. A sudden surge of protectiveness overcomes him. Something obviously sent you over the edge. He shifts standing completely in front of you, physically placing himself between you and the door, shielding you from the view of the others he still doesn’t realise are there. He keeps one hand on your shoulder, turning his head to look over his. He quickly assesses… the… situation…  _oh_ …

There is is. You feel the moment his mind puts the pieces together. His hand tightens on slightly on your shoulder as his entire body tenses. He doesn’t panic, not like you did. Fight, his body's natural response. Of course it would be. It’s the other instinct that shocks you. Protect. He wants to protect you, to shield you from their gaze, to take all of the heat himself. That is what snaps you out of it.

“I'm fine Chen.” You mutter, giving his hand a quick squeeze. He glances back at you as if checking the truth of that statement. You give him a small smile. Some of the tension visibly eases out of his shoulders. You step out from behind him walking into the lion's den with you head held high.

Ortega's eyes follow you closely as you stride across the room. You ignore it. You wish you had talked to Chen about that damned kiss, but you have been avoiding him for the past week like the responsible, reasonable adult you are. You only ran into him by chance when you went out to buy more cigarettes and god how you've missed him. You could tell that he was happy to see you, relieved that you were alright. It shocked you that he actually cares about you quite a bit. You doubt you will ever understand why.

Once you were near him again you didn't want to leave. He didn't want to scare you away so he didn't mention the kiss and neither did you. That was about two hours ago. You are regretting that decision more with every step.

You feel Chen's eyes boring holes into your back wondering when you became so strong, if you always have been and he just missed it. He finds the determined set to your shoulders and power in your step attractive. You are the smallest one in the room but you are demanding the attention be directed at you, even if you don't want it.

His mind flips back to a week ago before he can do anything about it.  How good it felt to have your weight in his lap. The heat of your body pressed against his as he pulled you close, your hands in his hair, your lips against his. It's only by sheer force of will that you manage to keep the blush from creeping into your cheeks.

_Damn it Chen._  Why is he thinking about that now? Why is he leaving his mind so fucking open? You turn to face the room, leaning back against a table with your arms crossed. You automatically seek out Chen. He is leaning near the door directly opposite from you. Your eyes meet his. You wish they didn't. He swallows. You look away. He knows that you were in his head. He's not angry. He wants you to know that he is okay with what happened.

You can't deal with that right now. The two of you will have a proper talk later. “So,” you slowly turn your attention to the only person in the room whose mind you can't read. Ortega. Body language will have to do and if that's anything to go by this will be a long, strenuous conversation that taxes the very limits of your patience. You wonder if it comes down to it, whose side Chen will be on. Your bet is the team. They always came first with him. “Let's get on with this shall we?” You feel strangely calm at the moment, the quiet before the storm.

Ortega's grin grows even more. How is that possible? If they keep smiling like that their face will split in two. “Are you two-”

“No.” You interrupt before they can finish, your voice harsh.

“No? What do you mean no?” The bewilderment on Ortega's face as they rapidly look between you and Chen is almost worth the discomfort this situation causes. “But what about-”

“We haven't talked about it.” You send another glance Chen's way. He is rigid, clearly uncomfortable, his mind is completely closed off. The smile you give him is apologetic. You really do feel like an idiot for avoiding him. But if you saw him that means you would have been forced to talk about things. And feelings are not something you are good at.

“You… what!?!” They are standing directly in front of you now blocking Chen from view. You feel a spike in tension coming from him, your shoulders stiffen a frown on your face. “How is that even possible!?” They look back over their shoulder at Chen. Your body language keeps them from grabbing you by yours and shaking you. You don't need to read their mind to know how frustrated they are with the two of you. “It's been a week!”

“Do I look like a reasonably functional human being to you?” You keep your glare but you can feel the colour starting to form on your face. Ortega looks absolutely mortified as they collapse back in their chair. “Besides,” you look anywhere but Chen, your eyes connecting with Heralds momentarily as you mutter, “it was an accident.”

A sharp bark of laughter causes your head to whip around. Everyone's attention landing on Lady Argent. The gleam in her eyes is one you recognise from your fights with her as Shadows Terror. “An accident.” She has locked on to her prey and has every intention of watching it squirm before eviscerating it. “You can't  _accidentally_ smash your face into someone else's for that long and then claim that you didn't at least enjoy it.” She arches an eyebrow, the expression on her eerie silver face one of absolute sadistic delight as your blush deepens.

“I never said that I didn’t-” you stop dead in your tracks. The momentary shock you feel from Chen causes you to glance at him. He wasn’t sure how you felt, thought he messed things up beyond repair by kissing you. And why wouldn’t he? Your reaction wasn’t exactly reassuring.

“What was that?” Argent practically purrs. Her eyes trained on you as her fox like smile slowly grows. Fuck. You wish the world would just swallow you taking you out of this damned situation.

“I don’t… I wasn’t…” Your brains refuses to cooperate. You look towards the window. Maybe you would have better luck with gravity. You know that none of them would let you jump out of a window a second time and even if you did Herald would catch you before you hit the ground. Maybe the vents then. You are small. You could probably fit.

“So you did enjoy it.” Her sharp eyes turn to Chen then. “And I know our fearless leader did.” This is it. You are doomed. Her claws have sunk in. Only a miracle could help you escape. The muscles in Chen’s jaw jump. “You should have seen the look on his face after you left. He was shocked, like waking from a pleasant dream by having cold water dumped on his head.”

“Argent.” Chen warns. It does nothing to deter her.

“Yes?” Her voice is sickly sweet, full of mock innocence.

“Enough.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” A frustrated sigh escapes Chen’s lips. The faintest of blushes dusting his cheeks. You can’t take your eyes off of him.

“I honestly can’t believe you still haven’t talked about it.” Herald's voice is quiet, the disbelief all too genuine. A thought spoken out loud.

You turn your glare on him. The world freezes over as you speak. “That’s it. I’m done with this conversation.”

“Was this even really a conversation?” Ortega protests.

“I don’t care. I’m done.” You push off the table getting ready to leave. Ortega steps in your way attempting to put their hand on your shoulder to stop you. Without a second's hesitation you grab their arm, twist then sweep their legs out from under them, flooring them.

They only went down because they didn’t see it coming. You are tempted to kick them too but you refrain. The shock on their face is priceless.

“Retired,” you emphasize the word, “doesn’t mean rusty. Idiot. You of all people should know not to underestimate me.” You stomp towards the door sending a glance Chen’s way. “You coming or staying?”

Without a word he shifts from his position near the door to follow you out. “That was impressive.”

“I’m retired,” you huff, “I didn’t forget how to fight.”

“Evidently.”

“Whatever.” You’ve had enough of this bullshit and just want to be out of here. Besides there is a more daunting conversation that needs to be had with the man walking beside you. One you are not looking forward to in the least. Maybe you can escape and put it off for another week.

“We don’t have to talk about it now if you don’t want to.” You can sense his apprehension. No. You can’t avoid this any longer. That would be unfair to him…

You sigh, shaking your head. “No. We do. Let’s just get somewhere where I can smoke first.” Damn, you don’t want to do this. Once this is done there will be no turning back. Do you want to be with him? Yes. Should you? Definitely not. It would be better for both of you and yet you can resist being drawn to him like a moth to the flame. Though in this case you are unsure who is the moth. What you do know is that the fire will consume you both leaving nothing but a charred husk and your inevitable mutual destruction.


End file.
